Innofreight has delivered its first 40 ft ScrapTainer, a newly-developed design which will be leased by DB Cargo and used to carrying materials for the steel industry between Germany and Austria.
PKP Cargo has signed a letter of intent to explore the possibility of using rail to transport liquefied natural gas from PGNiG’s terminal at Świnoujście. ‘PKP Cargo is closely watching the market and we can see that the demand for transporting this raw material inland is increasing’, said PKP Cargo President Czesław Warsewicz on October 8. ‘A new sector of the transport market is being created, in which we want to be present’.
On October 9 ČD Cargo formally inaugurated a wagon repair and cleaning facility built by Metrostav at a site in Ústí nad Labem.
The EU has allocated €43m to support PKP Cargo’s purchase of 930 container wagons for use on 91 routes to and from Polish ports. The funding aims to help support modal shift from road to rail in order to cut carbon emissions and increase road safety.
The 17th session of the RID Committee of Experts’ working group on tank and vehicle technology will be held in Ludwigshafen from October 14-16. Its main focus will be risk assessments for extra large tank-containers used by BASF to carry dangerous goods, with a capacity of up to 73 m3 which is comparable to tank wagons.
On October 1 Russian Railways entered into a PPP concession agreement with the Samara regional government for the construction of a 900m rouble freight line to the Togliatti special economic zone.
Inveho is to supply its parent company Ermewa with 600 steel coil wagons worth €50m in 2020-22.
Genesee & Wyoming’s Georgia Central Railway has completed a $4m project to upgrade bridges on its 340 km network to accommodate 130 tonne wagons, matching the capacity of connecting lines. ‘This is an important milestone in ongoing improvements to the Georgia Central’s ability to serve the growing Savannah market, including industrial development projects that will utilise the Georgia Port Authority’s Garden City container terminal’, said GC President Andy Chunko. A further $8m, including $4m from a federal grant, is to be spent to increase line speeds to 40 km/h.
The European Commission has approved under state aid rules a €6m Italian scheme running to 2022 which is designed to promote modal shift in the Emilia-Romagna region. Logistics companies can apply for subsidies for rail freight services of up to 120 km within the region, with the savings being passed to customers to incentivise the use of rail rather than road.
On October 2 CSX announced the appointments of Kevin Boone as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer and Jamie Boychuk as Executive Vice-President of Operations. Ed Harris, who previously led the Operations function, will continue as Executive Vice-President with a combination of operating and general executive responsibilities.
